Digital Home Thoughts: Sanyo Releases Internet Radio

"The SANYO R227 will make your life easier by finding you the stations you want to listen to while you pretend to work. As Sanyo’s vice president, Tom Van Voy states, the device needs no tethering to a computer. It seems that it has an own database for Internet stations. Oh, and it looks quite ugly. You have to wait until January to get one for $169.99."

Living in a digital household means being able to listen to your music collection all over the house. Over the years, I've experimented with a wide variety of music streaming solutions, including Internet Radios, old laptops and PDAs. While Internet radios are a great way to stream music while using relatively little power, I've found them too expensive for what they offer. Also, if I want to stream my own music, I need to set up something like a shoutcast station. In the end, I found the best solution for me is a low-fi solution; my server plays music through mpd with a web interface and it broadcasts on an FM transmitter. This solution allows anything that can pick up an FM signal (which is still a LOT of stuff) can play my music. Just have a radio in the kitchen? No problem! Like to sing in the shower? No problem! Out in the yard raking leaves? No... well, you get the picture. Has anyone found a good, low cost solution for in home streaming? Solutions like the Sanyo R227 are great, but hit the wallet.